Category: January 2016

In July, when the Shale Alliance For Energy Research released its outlook on the future of oil and gas wastewater, the so-called crossover point for this region was supposed to come in nine years. That’s the point at which the volume of wastewater produced from shale gas extraction outpaces the industry’s ability to reuse it to drill and frack more wells. It was an academic estimate. “It’s a whole lot shorter in the real world,” said Stephen Hughes, design engineering manager…

Saudi Arabia’s Crude Oil Production Preliminary estimates suggest that Saudi Arabia produced more than 10 MMbpd (million barrels per day) of crude oil in January 2016. Saudi Arabia’s production peaked at 10.6 MMbpd in June 2015. Saudi Arabia is the largest crude oil exporter in the world. In the last three years, record production from the US caused turmoil in the oil market. So, the tussle for market share caused Russia, OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), and the US to…

Short but potentially very important note for the oil market over the weekend. From a place that’s been one of the major focus points for the petroleum industry lately. That’s Iran. Where the threat of rising oil exports has been weighing on crude prices now that Western sanctions against the former “rogue” nation are being lifted. That has led many analysts to conclude that supplies from Iran could ramp up fast over the coming months. But events this past Saturday…

OPEC delegates say no plan for Russia meeting: report Oil futures settled at their highest level in three weeks on Thursday, but finished well below the session's highs after news reports that officials from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries denied reports of plans for a meeting with Russia over potential output cuts. March West Texas Intermediate crude rose 92 cents, or 2.9%, to settle at $33.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, down from an intraday…

Despite falling prices, Texas oil production continues to rise, and counties in the Eagle Ford Shale continue to top the state’s list of the biggest producers. The state in November produced an average of 2.37 million barrels daily, up from 2.25 million daily barrels in November 2014, according to preliminary data released by the Texas Railroad Commission. Karnes County is still pumping more crude oil than any other county, with 6 million barrels produced in November. It was followed by La Salle…

A number of recently completed and upcoming natural gas infrastructure projects are expected to increase the reach of natural gas produced in the Marcellus and Utica regions of the Northeastern United States (see map). These projects are intended to transport natural gas from production centers to consuming markets or export terminals. Over the past several years, natural gas production in the Marcellus and Utica areas has grown significantly: their combined growth of 12 billion cubic feet per day since 2011…

Commercial trucking fleet manager Ryder System Inc. and Shell Oil Co. have signed an agreement that will place 15 liquefied natural gas trucks into the fleet supporting oil and gas operations in Lafayette and Houston. Ryder manages Shell’s road freight hauling activities for the company’s U.S. exploration and production activities, including a dedicated fleet for Shell’s Gulf of Mexico operations. The new LNG-fueled vehicles will replace Ryder diesel-powered vehicles. The LNG trucks will be serviced out of Ryder’s Lafayette facility.…

A historic low in natural gas prices should ease over the next two years, according to a forecast released Monday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Following a December average of $1.93 for the Henry Hub benchmark, federal analysts predict gas prices will average $2.65 per MMBtu this year and $3.22 in 2017. Oil and gas drillers across the United States have struggled under collapsing commodity prices, driven in part by a boom in domestic shale drilling that has transformed…

Activity in the Texas service sector picked up January, with more than a third of businesses reporting increases in revenue, according to new data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. But most business owners that the Fed surveyed indicated they were becoming increasingly pessimistic about the Texas economy in the face of falling oil prices. “Oil prices are increasingly impacting our business. An increasing number of customers are delaying or canceling purchases,” said an executive for a vehicle parts dealer.…

In the oil business, one man's bust is another man's boom. As the price of crude tanked in recent months, oil companies have halted work at south Texas oil fields, laying off tens of thousands of workers. Home prices have taken a big hit, as have hotels, restaurants and all the other businesses that cater to corporate boardrooms and globe-trotting petroleum engineers. But in this Gulf Coast refinery hub about 30 miles east of Houston, business is good. Really good.…